Saturday, May 24, 2008
MOGADISHU: Pakistani sailors were freed as Somali pirates released a Jordanian-flagged cargo ship hijacked last week off the lawless coast of the Horn of Africa nation, a shipping agent said on Friday.The "Victoria", owned by a United Arab Emirates company, was carrying 4,200 tonnes of sugar in humanitarian aid sent from Denmark to the Somali capital Mogadishu. "The ship has been released. All the pirates have left the ship. The crew is safe and healthy. The ship is sailing to Mogadishu to discharge its cargo," the ship's local agent Muhammad Ahmed Roble told Reuters. "The pirates and the businessmen whose cargo the ship was carrying have reached a verbal agreement. We did not pay any ransom," he said.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=14904
Full Version: Pak Sailors Freed As Pirates Release Ship In Somalia
Excellent News. Now the crew can return to their families.
If it happens again we should send a task force to take out bad guys! Maybe try out the F22P frigate and its new systems.
another source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7417601.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7417601.stm
QUOTE
Somali pirates release aid ship
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A ship carrying food aid to Somalia which was seized a week ago by pirates has been released.
The Jordanian-registered Victoria, carrying a cargo of 4,000 tonnes sugar donated by Denmark, was hijacked as it approached the capital, Mogadishu.
The ship's local agent said the crew of about 12 was safe and the ship was now heading to Mogadishu with Somali soldiers onboard.
The waters off Somalia among the most dangerous in the world.
The Victoria's crew are from Pakistan, India, Tanzania and Bangladesh.
Last month the United States and France proposed a UN resolution allowing countries to chase and arrest pirates in Somalia's territorial waters.
Somali officials have blamed Western companies for paying ransoms after hijackings, saying this only worsens the problem.
In April, the 26 crew of a Spanish fishing boat were released after being seized by pirates, and a reported ransom of $1.2m (£600,000) was paid.
map
A ship carrying food aid to Somalia which was seized a week ago by pirates has been released.
The Jordanian-registered Victoria, carrying a cargo of 4,000 tonnes sugar donated by Denmark, was hijacked as it approached the capital, Mogadishu.
The ship's local agent said the crew of about 12 was safe and the ship was now heading to Mogadishu with Somali soldiers onboard.
The waters off Somalia among the most dangerous in the world.
The Victoria's crew are from Pakistan, India, Tanzania and Bangladesh.
Last month the United States and France proposed a UN resolution allowing countries to chase and arrest pirates in Somalia's territorial waters.
Somali officials have blamed Western companies for paying ransoms after hijackings, saying this only worsens the problem.
In April, the 26 crew of a Spanish fishing boat were released after being seized by pirates, and a reported ransom of $1.2m (£600,000) was paid.
QUOTE(aziqbal @ May 25 2008, 01:57 PM) 
If it happens again we should send a task force to take out bad guys! Maybe try out the F22P frigate and its new systems.
Navy readied ship to take on pirates
Manu Pubby
Posted online: Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 0054 hrs Print Email
NEW DELHI, MAY 23: Just before the Indian sailors onboard hijacked ship MV Victoria were released on Friday, India had readied a frontline guided missile destroyer, complete with a crack marine commandos (MARCOS) team, for a rescue mission to the Somalia coast.
The strike mission was called off after the issue got resolved, but it has come to light that the Navy had prepared for any extreme eventuality and readied one its most modern warships, the guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, for a fast dash to the Somali coast.
A crack team of the Navy’s elite anti-terror special operations unit, which is trained for operations on oil rigs and merchant ships, was placed on board the INS Delhi on Thursday morning.
Officers and sailors of the warship who had gone on leave were called back on ‘emergency duty’ for the mission.
Sources confirmed that the heavily armed warship, which carries two Sea King helicopters and reaches speeds greater thab 32 knots, was hours away from deployment when the situation deescalated.
However, the INS Mumbai, another Delhi class destroyer, was asked to head to Somalia to keep track of the hijacked ship. INS Mumbai was already in African waters as it was returning from an exercise with the South Africa and Brazil navies, although it did not have a MARCOS team onboard
While a rescue mission to Somalia would have required an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the incident shows that the Navy was prepared to launch what would have been its first ever strike operation at such a distance from Indian waters.
Besides the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka between 1987-1990, the only other time MARCOS operated beyond Indian waters was near Maldives during Operation Cactus in 1988.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/313850.html
i suggest that if our folks are taken hostage by these goons next time we should send in our NSSG to take em out!! ive had enuff of these idiots hijacking every other boat they find gud looking!!
so what was it, MV Victoria had Indian or Pakistani or both as crew.
looks like only IN mobilized for the operation.
QUOTE(kunkesh @ May 26 2008, 04:46 PM)
Navy readied ship to take on pirates
Manu Pubby
Posted online: Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 0054 hrs Print Email
NEW DELHI, MAY 23: Just before the Indian sailors onboard hijacked ship MV Victoria were released on Friday, India had readied a frontline guided missile destroyer, complete with a crack marine commandos (MARCOS) team, for a rescue mission to the Somalia coast.
The strike mission was called off after the issue got resolved, but it has come to light that the Navy had prepared for any extreme eventuality and readied one its most modern warships, the guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, for a fast dash to the Somali coast.
A crack team of the Navy’s elite anti-terror special operations unit, which is trained for operations on oil rigs and merchant ships, was placed on board the INS Delhi on Thursday morning.
Officers and sailors of the warship who had gone on leave were called back on ‘emergency duty’ for the mission.
Sources confirmed that the heavily armed warship, which carries two Sea King helicopters and reaches speeds greater thab 32 knots, was hours away from deployment when the situation deescalated.
However, the INS Mumbai, another Delhi class destroyer, was asked to head to Somalia to keep track of the hijacked ship. INS Mumbai was already in African waters as it was returning from an exercise with the South Africa and Brazil navies, although it did not have a MARCOS team onboard
While a rescue mission to Somalia would have required an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the incident shows that the Navy was prepared to launch what would have been its first ever strike operation at such a distance from Indian waters.
Besides the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka between 1987-1990, the only other time MARCOS operated beyond Indian waters was near Maldives during Operation Cactus in 1988.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/313850.html
Manu Pubby
Posted online: Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 0054 hrs Print Email
NEW DELHI, MAY 23: Just before the Indian sailors onboard hijacked ship MV Victoria were released on Friday, India had readied a frontline guided missile destroyer, complete with a crack marine commandos (MARCOS) team, for a rescue mission to the Somalia coast.
The strike mission was called off after the issue got resolved, but it has come to light that the Navy had prepared for any extreme eventuality and readied one its most modern warships, the guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, for a fast dash to the Somali coast.
A crack team of the Navy’s elite anti-terror special operations unit, which is trained for operations on oil rigs and merchant ships, was placed on board the INS Delhi on Thursday morning.
Officers and sailors of the warship who had gone on leave were called back on ‘emergency duty’ for the mission.
Sources confirmed that the heavily armed warship, which carries two Sea King helicopters and reaches speeds greater thab 32 knots, was hours away from deployment when the situation deescalated.
However, the INS Mumbai, another Delhi class destroyer, was asked to head to Somalia to keep track of the hijacked ship. INS Mumbai was already in African waters as it was returning from an exercise with the South Africa and Brazil navies, although it did not have a MARCOS team onboard
While a rescue mission to Somalia would have required an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the incident shows that the Navy was prepared to launch what would have been its first ever strike operation at such a distance from Indian waters.
Besides the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka between 1987-1990, the only other time MARCOS operated beyond Indian waters was near Maldives during Operation Cactus in 1988.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/313850.html
The Indians would have received a true Somali hospitality
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